Heating things up
by GinnytheQueen
Summary: It's Valentine's Day (can you see the humor?), Sebastian hasn't been defeated yet, Jace still has the heavenly fire inside him, and Clary has had enough. Izzy suggests something... "Clary," he said in a scolding tone. But there was no scolding in his expression. "What?" she asked innocently, still not letting go of his arms. "Don't tempt me."


I wish I owned Jace Lightwood, but Cassie Clare does. Characters, places and some lines belong to her.

* * *

"So do you guys have any special plans for tomorrow?" Izzy asked.

Jace raised an eyebrow. "What about tomorrow?"

"Valentine's Day. Every couple should celebrate!"

Clary glared at her. "You're kidding, right?"

"Out of all the silly mundane holidays, you _had_ to pick the one with my mad zealot father's name, right?"

Isabelle just shook her head. "I'm more concerned with the fact that you called him _your_ father when he's actually Clary's."

Jace was starting to glow a bit. He still had the heavenly fire inside him after all.

"Izzy…" Clary warned.

But Jace replied anyway. "Why don't you go to your bloodsucking lover and just leave us alone?"

"Hey!" Clary raised one hand in protest at that description of her best friend.

"Sure, I'll go so you lovebirds can arrange plans for Valentine's Day."

"Izzy," Clary said again. "Run."

Jace was glaring daggers at her.

Once his sister was gone, Clary wrapped an arm around him, cautious. "She was just teasing, you know."

"I overreacted."

"I noticed."

"Sorry. It's just that… I feel so nervous and angry all the time. This – this fire inside me, sometimes I feel like… like it will burn me."

Clary sighed. "Guess it's my turn to apologize. For putting you through this."

"Again with this story? I've told you. Better dead than Sebastian's. And I think we can call it a success, considering that I'm not even dead."

He kissed the top of her head lightly. This was all she was getting for now.

"Maybe we should do something," Jace murmured.

"What?"

"I don't know, celebrate."

"_You want to celebrate Valentine's Day_?"

"Don't – don't look at me like I'm crazy!"

"Izzy got to your head," Clary declared, shaking her head.

"I'm serious."

"You never are."

"By the Angel, Clary! _I'm serious_. I want to take you out on a date tomorrow. Maybe it's because it's Valentine's" he choked on the name "Day, or maybe I'm just upset that we never get to spend quality time together anymore since… since _that_ happened."

The fire, again.

"Jace," she put her hands on his shoulders. "Jace, calm down."

"Don't touch me."

_Here we go again_.

"Watch me," she replied stubbornly as she ran her hands down his chest and abdomen in a soothing way.

He didn't try to stop her.

Instead, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Clary kissed him. The vehemence Jace kissed her back with was almost too much, considering that they were in the training room and anyone could've come in any minute. But she didn't care. They had been craving physical contact for too long. They hadn't properly had a decent make out session since… well, since Paris and Sebastian's apartment.

She could actually _feel_ the fire in Jace's body reacting, and he pulled away. He was glowing a bit. If this whole situation hadn't been tragic, she would've found it amusing. And hilarious. Simon had made a thousand jokes about Jace in the last month.

"Clary," he said in a scolding tone. But there was no scolding in his expression.

"What?" she asked innocently, still not letting go of his arms.

"Don't tempt me."

"Don't give me reason to."

He laughed. "Have you _seen_ me? I understand that it's impossible to resist such beauty, but do your best. You know we can't."

"Jace, we've been over this, I'm willing to risk –"

"I'm not. I'm not able to control my emotions and thus the fire. I used to be so good at it! Conceal, don't feel, put on a show… then you came into my life and made a mess out of me."

"Sorry," she said playfully.

"It must be hard. I'm yours but you can't have me."

Whether he was kidding or not, he was right.

* * *

On Valentine's Day, Clary woke up to her phone buzzing.

It was a text message from Isabelle.

_**Heating things up with Jace today? Xoxo **_

_**HEAVENLY FIRE**_ was Clary's reply.

_**I may have a solution for that… not teasing, I swear. Come to me as soon as you can so we can talk. Love you. **_

Clary got up from her bed and showered. She carefully chose the underwear and clothes she was gonna wear and smiled to herself. It was Valentine's Day, after all. Red bra and panties, black tank top and jeans. She wore the Morgenstern ring on its chain necklace and she carefully applied make-up. She also took her stele and a dagger, you never know.

She bid goodbye to her mom and Luke and got out. When she arrived at the Institute, she went straight to Izzy's room, hoping Jace wouldn't pass by.

Clary knocked and Isabelle opened the door.

"Your boobs look bigger."

"Hello to you too, Isabelle."

"Seriously, what's with the boobs?"

"Push-up bra," Clary confessed.

"I'm so proud of you."

Clary sighed and she sat on the bed.

"Someone's a bit nervous," said Isabelle.

"What's the solution you mentioned earlier?" Clary suddenly asked and Isabelle got serious.

"Reason with me here, Clary. Jace wants this as badly as you do. Probably even more, because he's a guy, because he has done it before… what's the only thing that's making him restrain his physical urges?"

"The heavenly fire, of course," she replied as it was obvious.

"The risk you'll get hurt by it," Izzy corrected. "But what if you were immune from the fire?"

"You lost me."

"What if we could find a way to make your skin… fireproof?"

"If you got any ideas, I'm all ears. We can't use magic," she reminded Isabelle "since Magnus is not speaking to any of us."

"That is an entirely different matter that I am going to have to solve eventually, since Alec is too stupid to fix things himself. But I'm not talking about hiring a warlock. It's much easier than that. Something so obvious that we kind of forgot about it."

Isabelle touched the marks on her skin.

"Runes," Clary whispered.

The other nodded. "I'm not sure an ordinary Fireproof rune would work, but you're the creator here. You can do pretty much what you want."

"Can you give me some paper? I ought to sketch it out before I mark myself. Also, can you get me the Gray book from the library? I'd go, but I don't want Jace to know I'm here yet."

"Alright. But after we do this, you have to help me. I'm meeting Simon later, you see."

Clary smiled. "Sure."

* * *

Izzy watched, fascinated, as circular patterns intertwined with straight lines as Clary's stele danced on the paper.

"Where do you think I should mark myself?" Clary asked.  
"I would say on your back but I'm not drawing that, so it has to be somewhere you can do it yourself… what about your left shoulder? Too visible?"

"I don't care, it's not like my mom will recognize the rune anyway," she grinned.

Izzy smiled back and asked, "Do you know where Simon is taking me tonight? He might've told you."

"I don't know his plans, but I do know that Jordan is taking Maia out for dinner so you guys will probably have the apartment to yourselves," Clary said. It was true: Simon hadn't told her anything about tonight and she hadn't asked.

"Any hints about what clothes I should wear?"

"Izzy, stop being so self-conscious. You've never cared before, I don't see why you should now. You look perfect anyway."

Isabelle smiled at her, like really smiled. "Same as usual then? Tight dress and high-heeled boots? What about you, do you want me to lend you any of my clothes? No offence, but you could use a little sexy…"

Clary had finished drawing the rune. "Okay then," she said, eyeing the fresh applied mark first and then her friend. "Just don't turn me into a Barbie."

* * *

Roughly an hour later, the two girls were both ready. Isabelle had even lighted a candle for Clary to brush her skin on the flame: she hadn't felt any pain or burn. The rune she created did work. With ordinary fire, at least.

"Are you… excited?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah." Clary admitted. "Any last piece of advice?"

"About sex? Just don't make it awkward. Laugh, joke if you have to. You've been looking forward to this moment for a long time, it might not be what you expected. Just enjoy it."

Clary swallowed a hard knot. "Thank you, Izzy. For everything."

"That's what girl friends are for."

"Don't screw things up with Simon!" Clary said as Izzy was leaving.

She turned. "Don't worry, I don't plan to."

* * *

Jace was in his room. She'd just have to knock and get inside. She did just that.

"Clary…" Jace was sitting at his desk and obviously not expecting her.

"Hi."

He looked at her and swallowed. "What – what brings you here?"

"Fair-haired, golden-eyed boy, answers to 'Jace' or 'Hot Stuff'."

"You forgot 'charming' and 'inhumanly handsome'."

"What were you doing, just before I graced you with my presence?" Clary asked, grinning.

"I've just come back from the training room," he said casually.

Jace had not moved from his spot since she'd come in, not moved towards her. Under different circumstances, the first thing he'd done would've been to grab her face and kiss her.

"Oh, happy Valentine's Day, by the way," he said.

She struck what she thought was a sexy pose. "Am I not supposed to get a kiss for that?"

Jace apparently found her attempt amusing, because he cracked up. "Sure you do. Come here," he said and opened his arms for her to walk in.

Clary put her arms around his neck, like she wanted to snog him or strangle him, whichever came first. She waited for Jace to make the first move, to inch closer, and when he did, she pressed her lips on his, hard. The kiss didn't last much, because soon – definitely too soon – Jace pulled back to look at her.

"I am so going to kill Sebastian," he just said. "It's his fault that we can't – by the Angel, I _will_ kill him. Forget the Clave, what happened in Idris and his plans to burn down the world. I will kill him for what he did to us."

Clary suppressed a laugh. Jace apparently wanted to kill Sebastian because it was his fault if they weren't having any sex.

Clary carefully removed the leather jacket Izzy had given her.

"What are you doing?"

She smiled. "Hot in here, isn't it?" She made sure the rune was fully visible, not covered by her tank top and the strap of her bra.

It took Jace three seconds to ask "What rune is that?"

"It's a rune I created," Clary said vaguely.

"What does it do?"

"It's an enhanced Fireproof rune. I thought you might want to help me find out if it works correctly…"

"Are you messing with me?" Jace asked.

"Am not. Now do kiss me."

"Clary…" he said reluctantly.

"Jace."

They had a staring contest. She could almost _see_ the moment when he gave up and decided he didn't care. Clary smiled at her victory and he couldn't take it any more.

Jace hooked his fingers through her belt loops and pulled her against him until they were pressed together everywhere—chests, hips, legs—like puzzle pieces. His hands slid down to her waist and he kissed her, long and lingering, making her shudder.

Clary was too overwhelmed to think straight, but she did feel a certain sense of satisfaction. They stood there and kept kissing—eating each other's faces as Isabelle would have put it—until she was clinging to him and Jace practically lifted her, tired of having to bend down because of the significant height difference. Clary wrapped her legs around his hips and Jace almost lost his balance in surprise.

"Bed," Clary moaned between kisses and she was pleased of how quickly Jace obeyed. He settled himself on top of her and went back to kissing her—her face, her lips, her neck, he was everywhere.

His hands were roaming up and down her body and found the hem of her tank top. Clary stretched her arms out. Once it was gone, she got rid of Jace's black shirt, which joined hers on the floor.

She could only recall a few other times when Jace's kisses had been so raw, so urgent. Her hands were trembling so she hid them in his hair and brought his face closer to hers. She tried not to think much about the fact that she didn't know what she was doing and she didn't have the slightest idea of what she was going to do. Jace knew she had zero experience. Hopefully he would –

His lips left hers and ventured down her jawline, lingered on her throat and rested on her chest, savoring the skin of her breast that the bra didn't cover. Her mind stopped working. She led one of his hands on her back, to undo the clasp of her bra.

Clary felt suddenly conscious of the hot in her cheeks, the blush rising. She wanted nothing between them but she was sensible enough to feel a little bit shy.

Jace sensed her mood change.

He stopped kissing her. "Are you all right?"

"'Course I am."

She remembered what Izzy had said about not making it awkward.

"Are you?" she urged.

He lifted his head. "Why on earth wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, it seemed polite to ask... besides, you're burning, er, I mean, glowing. You're glowing."

He automatically moved away from her.

"Don't worry, I don't feel anything. The rune must be working," she said, and he scooted closer again, taking her hands in his.

"Jace..."

"What?"

Clary surprised even herself with what she said next.

"When was the last time you had sex?"

"_What?_"

"If you're willing to talk about it, that's it."

Jace looked down.

She didn't know where she was getting all this nerve from. She should've used this sudden courage in other ways, like undressing him.

Judging by his silence he was shocked as she was. Or didn't want to talk about the libertine love life he used to lead before knowing her.

"It's okay," Clary said and pulled him closer. Things were starting to get awkward and that's exactly what Izzy had told her to avoid.

"No," he said. "I want you to know."

"Isabelle has told me what you were like before we met and — that's okay, Jace. You're different now. And I love you."

He looked up. "The night before we met you and Simon in Pandemonium," he said, answering her question.

"With — who was she?"

"You know her."

"Really?" she didn't have the slightest idea.

"Kaelie," he said.

_Of course... _Clary had guessed they'd had a fling. She remembered the two of them flirting the first time she'd been to Taki's. It also explained why the nixie had never been very nice to her.

"Surely a better shag than I am," she muttered, not meaning to say it out loud.

"Clary! Don't even —"

"I'm sorry", she interrupted him. "I shouldn't have started this conversation at all. I don't know why I did. Let's just forget it and go back to you and me, shall we?"

Jace lifed the hand he was holding and kissed her wrist.

"I love you."

* * *

It was pretty late when Clary got home. The lights were out and she could tell Jocelyn and Luke were asleep.

Clary wondered if _they_ had done anything special for Valentine's Day. Celebrating on February 14th surely wasn't custom in Idris when the two of them were teens, but Clary's mom had lived for so long in the mundane world, had strived so hard to be a part of it — in order to forget what she was running from — that she had come to accept all its traditions. Even, she supposed, silly holidays.

They hadn't gotten the chance to get married yet, but they were in love and doing coupley stuff all the time and sometimes Clary just felt out of place. She definitely felt like she should be giving them space all the time. Even if it felt strange to imagine her parents (the word _stepfather_ just couldn't be applied to Luke) celebrating _Valentine's Day_, it occurred to Clary that they actually might've.

She smiled as she entered her bedroom.

She slipped in her pajamas and was about to go to sleep when her phone buzzled.

She checked the ID: it was going to be a _long_ talk. She drew a Silence rune on the door, not wanting to wake Luke and Jocelyn.

She picked up.

"Clary! Are you home yet? Of course you're home — I just got back to the Institute and you're not here... you must tell me how things went between you and Jace! And Simon — by the Angel, Clary! I don't..."

"Iz? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm alright. But let's talk about you first."

She probabaly was a little bit drunk. Izzy could handle alchool, but Clary had seen her drunk and delirious before. This was not the case, but still. She sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything! You should've stayed here. We could've spoken directly."

"You know I can't. My mom's strictest rule is: no sleepover where your boyfriend lives."

"But you would be staying with me!"

"Let it go, Iz."

"_Jocelyn_ should let you go. I would say she's the one who needs a good shag, but I think Luke suffices for that."

"Can we _not_ talk about my parents' sexual activity and move back to ours?"

"Sure thing. Was the rune okay?"

"Yeah, surprisingly lasting. It's starting to fade right now."

"Wow. And Jace?"

"You know how your brother gets. At first he didn't want to risk it, but I seduced him. Thanks for the tips. We had a quick talk before... y'know. He told me — actually, I asked — that the last girl that he'd slept with was—"

"Wait, let me guess. Was it Kaye?"

"No."

"Don't tell me it was Aline."

"God, no!"

"Valerie? Selene? Layla?"

"No! Isabelle, who _are_ these girls?"

"Are you jealous, Fray?"

"Of course I am. My boyfriend has shagged more girls than Magnus, it seems."

"I think that's impossible. Who was it, anyway?"

"Kaelie."

"Oh, right. I should've known. Jace and Kaelie often kind of disappeared together... with our food, I might add."

"That's it, we're going to Taki's tomorrow. I'll rip her head off."

"Cute." Isabelle paused. "Back to the main topic of this conversation. Here comes the fatal question: did you like it?"

Clary hesitated. "Yeah, I guess. It really hurt. Like, a lot... You were right. I shouldn't have had such high expectations for my first time. But Jace made it worth it. I'm glad that idea occurred to you, Iz. I owe you one."

Even if she couldn't see her, Clary knew Isabelle was smiling at this point. "Did Jace enjoy himself?"

"I hope so. I could tell he was trying to be gentle... he did set the sheets on fire, though."

"I am so going to tease him for that."

Clary didn't tell her to sod off and leave her boyfriend alone. Jace was a big boy, he could handle his sister's jokes.

"What about you and Simon? Did you guys have fun?"

She was curious. Izzy had been gorgeous —more than usual— when she'd left. She could only imagine Simon's face upon seeing her attire.

"Let's just say it was a rather peculiar evening."

"Just that? You're not gonna tell me anything?"

"Not right now."

"But... is everything okay, at least?"

"Listen, we'll talk tomorrow, okay? I'm really tired and it's about time we both go to bed. Goodnight, Clary."

Isabelle hang up.

Clary was left there, wondering, exploring all possible scenarios and imagining all the things that might've gone wrong between those two. Because otherwise, why not talk about it?

She texted Simon.

_**Hey, how was your date with Isabelle? **_

She waited for a reply, which came several minutes later, shorter than she'd hoped it would be.

_**Can I come over tomorrow? There's a lot to tell **_

He wasn't going to give her a straight answer either... Clary supposed she just had to wait.

_**Sure thing. Love you **_

Clary finally got into bed. She would deal with whatever Simon and Isabelle's problem was tomorrow. Now she just wanted to rest.

Before sleep came to her, she thought about Jace and what had happened between them today. She thought of muffled laughs and his bare skin pressed on hers and of awkard conversations and of whispered I love yous.

She was happy.

* * *

_**Author's Notes**_: Hi! I've been wanting to write a Clace Valentine's Day story for a while now, so here you have it. It doesn't really make sense, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

*winks* I might do a second chapter about Simon and Izzy and explain what the heck happened to them, if enough of you guys ask for it. (_I'm a hardcore Sizzy shipper, mind you_)

So, **review** please? *puppy face*

PS: I apologize for any possible grammar mistake. Not a native English speaker, not living in an English-speaking country *raises Italian flag*

Lots of love,

-F


End file.
